Grigory Leps: nationality, creative biography. Do not believe your eyes Leps Jewish surname

Performing works in various genres, including chanson. The most widely known to the public are his compositions "Natalie", "A Glass of Vodka on the Table" and some others, which are loved by the Russian public.

The origin of the singer

However, few people know that Grigory Leps is not Russian. He is one of the few representatives of singers of Georgian origin on the Russian stage. Both his parents, father - Viktor Antonovich Lepsveridze and mother - Natella Semyonovna, were from Georgia, but the singer himself was born in Russia, in the city of Sochi, on July 16, 1962. Parents named Grisha: thus, the real name of the singer is Grigory Viktorovich Lepsveridze.

Alias

From the above facts, it becomes clear to the singer: it is an abbreviation of his real Lepsveridze, which seemed too long to the pop star. One of the versions of the appearance of the pseudonym claims that its roots lie in the singer's childhood. At 14, he became a student at a music school, choosing percussion as his specialization. Having mastered the necessary skills, he later began to apply them in practice, playing in various musical groups. In one of them, the bandmates invented the nickname "Leps" for him, which was a sonorous and memorable way to designate a novice musician. It was to this conclusion that he himself later came, choosing a pseudonym for himself, which he planned to use already in his solo career.

The further development of events showed that the choice he made was absolutely correct. Today, even people far from the modern Russian stage have at least once heard his abbreviated surname, acting as a pseudonym, and remember this fact, since it is short, vivid and memorable. And his songs are familiar today to almost every resident of Russia and many of our compatriots living abroad.

True, it must be admitted that he owes this not only to a well-chosen pseudonym, but also to a well-chosen repertoire, as well as a memorable timbre of his voice. One of the proofs of his popularity outside our homeland is the artist's active touring activity, during which he has already traveled a significant part of the world. At the same time, Leps is not only a performer, but also the author of some of his works. In addition, his discography includes several soundtracks for famous Russian films.

“… His name is Werner, but he is Russian. What's so surprising? I knew one Ivanov, who was German. "
Lermontov. "Hero of our time".

Do not rely on your last name and appearance if you want to determine nationality famous personBetter to find his biography on the internet or books.
I used to think (and, I'm sure, not only me) that the revolutionaries Inessa Armand and Larisa Reisner, statesman Anatoly Lunacharsky, chairman of the OGPU Vyacheslav Menzhinsky, military leader Mikhail Tukhachevsky, scientist Eduard Tsiolkovsky, writers Yuri Olesha, Boris Pilnyak, composers and Konstantin Simonov Lev Knipper, Azon Fattah, Andrey Eshpai, Alexander Bronevitsky and David Tukhmanov, musicians Svyatoslav Richter and Stas Namin, directors Vsevolod Meyerhold and Alexander Row, actors Zinaida Reich, Rostislav Plyatt, Georgy Millyar, Georgy and Maya Menglett, Sergei Smotuntiyok singers Eduard Khil and Grigory Leps are Jews, that diplomat Maxim Litvinov, military leader Dmitry Karbyshev, writers Mikhail Shatrov and Anatoly Rybakov, singer Vladimir Bunchikov, actors Roman Bykov, Mikhail Kozakov, Tatyana Samoilova, Tatyana Drubich, Vladimir Basov, Vladimir Vysotsky are Russians, that the composer Vano Muradeli is a Georgian, that the singer Anna German is a Polish woman, that the pilot Nikolai Gastello is an Italian, an actress Vija Artmane is Latvian, and chess player Garry Kasparov is Azerbaijani.
In fact, Reisner, Meyerhold, Knipper and Anna Hermann are German in origin. Richter is three-quarters German and one-quarter Russian; Reich, Pilnyak and Gastello are German by father and Russian by mother. Artmane is German by her father and Polish by her mother. Armand is French. Millyar is half French, half Russian. Menglets are Russians with French roots. Menzhinsky, Tsiolkovsky, Olesha and Plyatt are Poles. Litvinov, Shatrov, Rybakov, Drubich and Bunchikov are Jews. Rolan Bykov is half Jewish, half Pole. Kozakov is half Jewish, a quarter Greek, and a quarter Serb. Kasparov is half Jewish, half Armenian. Konstantin Simonov and Tukhmanov are Armenians on their fathers and Russians on their mothers. Muradeli and Namin are Armenians. Leps is a Georgian. Fattah is a Tatar. Karbyshev from the Kryashens, that is, the baptized Tatars. Eshpai is a Mari. Rowe is Irish by father and Greek by mother. Bronevitsky is a quarter Belarusian, a quarter Pole, a quarter Latvian and a quarter German. Smoktunovsky said that he was Belarusian by blood. Khil is Belarusian by his father and Russian by his mother. Tukhachevsky, Lunacharsky and Yursky are Russians. As for Basov, Samoilova and Vysotsky, here I was half wrong. Basov is Russian by mother and Finn by father, Samoilova is Russian by father and Jewish by mother, Vysotsky is Russian by mother and Jewish by father.

Grigory Leps is a famous Russian singer of Georgian origin. He was born on July 16, 1962. The birthplace of Grigory Viktorovich is the city of Sochi. Leps himself writes poetry and music for his songs, and also promotes them. He is the author of several dozen hits. The main musical genres are rock, chanson, rock-pop and pop.

Childhood and youth

The mother of the famous singer was an ordinary nurse, and his father worked at a meat factory. At school, the boy did not show much success. From childhood, Gregory's main hobby was music. After finishing school somehow, Leps entered the music school the city of Sochi. After serving in the army, the young man worked for some time in restaurants. With great difficulty he managed to get into the rock group "Index-398". It was one of the most original symphonic rock bands in the Soviet Union. Gregory became her vocalist at the very peak of his fame.

Musical career

However, soon the leader I. Sandler disbanded Index-398 and left for England. Leps had to return to restaurants. According to the musician, working at night among a noisy audience took a lot of his energy, and in order to somehow relax, the guy began to drink alcohol. If not for the change of place of residence, he could have gotten drunk and died.

First album

After moving to Moscow, Leps's business went pretty well. He was already over 30 and had sufficient experience as an artist and his own vision of music. He called the first album "God bless you". It included the song "Natalie", which instantly fell in love with the audience, as well as "Nostalgia", "Afterword", "The Player", "Do not be sad, my girl", "I listened to the rain" and others.

The video, which was filmed for the song "Natalie", Leps did not see. Moreover, he had to miss taking part in the recording of the Song-95 program. Unfortunately, the singer began to have health problems (his stormy youth and passion for alcohol affected). The doctors managed to heal the stomach ulcer and put the singer on his feet. After this incident, he refused alcohol for some time.

Also, clips were shot for the songs "God bless you" and "My thoughts". According to friends, the last song surprisingly coincides with the life situation that Leps was experiencing. The singer was ill for a long time and was literally on the edge. After his recovery, his morale was depressed, and his friends had to work hard to restore his joy in life.

Stages of creativity

Since then, the musician has released one album every two years and practically every one of them has had overwhelming success. The complete discography includes 17 albums. Here are some of them:

• In 1997, A Whole Life was released. It includes the following well-known compositions "I will see anyway", "Romance", "Can't Sleep", "Queen".
• In the millennium saw the light of the next album entitled "Thank you, people." According to the singer himself, in each song he put a particle of himself, his experiences and real events from his own life. Therefore, they turned out to be very piercing and at the same time romantic. Videos for the songs "Rat", "Shelest" and "First Birthday" were shot.
• Two years later - the collection On the Strings of the Rain. It included the beloved by many "Glass of vodka on the table", as well as "On the strings of the rain".

Duets with other artists

In 2007, Leps, together with Irina Allegrova, recorded a song called "I don't believe you", and a little later the artist sang a duet with Stas Piekha. The composer Viktor Drobysh also participated in the creation of the musical composition "She is not yours". Four years later, there was a joint song with Timothy "Requiem for Love", and a year later - "London", also written in collaboration with this musician.

Inspired by the success, Grigory Leps recorded a whole collection of songs sung together with other performers. In his asset, in addition to those already listed, there are such compositions as "Captivity" with Artyom Loik, "Brother Nicotine" with Timothy and "Mirrors" with Ani Lorak.

Prizes and awards

Grigory Leps was awarded various titles more than once. He is an honored artist Russian Federation, Karachay-Cherkessia and Ingushetia. By nationality, Grigory Viktorovich is Georgian and therefore it is not surprising that in the Caucasus he is considered their own. Leps awards:

• The year 2002 brought the musician a victory in a competition organized by Radio Chanson. The award was called "Chanson of the Year". Gregory received it twice - in 2002 and in 2004.
• Thanks to the song “I don’t believe you”, sung together with Irina Allegrova, Leps won the Golden Gramophone award. A year later, for this composition he was awarded another award from Muz-TV.
• The musician is awarded two prizes at once in 2008. At the beginning of the year from "Record-2008" as the best-selling performer and at the end - from "Golden Gramophone" for the song "She's not yours."
• In 2009, two prizes were received, among which the next prize from the "Golden Gramophone" and the Utyosov prize.
• A year later, there was another victory in the Golden Gramophone. And the singer was also awarded a diploma for a duet with Meladze in the nomination "Best Song of 2010".
• In 2011, there were three awards at once: from "Best Song of 2011", "Golden Gramophone" and Russian Award RU. TV.

Thus, the musician collects many prizes and awards every year. Among the latter, one can single out "Artist of the Year" in 2017 and "Best Performer" according to "Muz-TV". The latter was received in 2018.

Personal life

Svetlana Dubinskaya is considered his first love. They met while studying at the music school, where Svetlana was a vocal student. The girl waited for him from the army and the lovers got married. At that time, both were only 20 years old. Unfortunately, their marriage did not last long, and soon the young wife left her husband's house with her little daughter Inga, who was barely a year old. The reason for the separation was a conflict with Gregory's father. In this situation, Leps Jr. sided with his father and tried with all his might to reconcile both.

Svetlana did not forgive the choice of her husband and harbored a grudge. In a word, the musician did not manage to save the marriage. According to the woman, the singer did not help them with their daughter in material terms and did not take part in the child's life. When Inge Lepsveridze turned 16, her father helped her to move to the capital. Now the girl lives in London, but she often visits Russia, where she tries to make an acting career. As for Svetlana, she stayed in the city of her childhood - Sochi. The first wife of Leps works as an administrator at the club.

Second marriage

As the official biography of Leps says, the ballerina Anna Shaplykova became his next wife. True, before the second marriage, the musician had a huge break. Disappointed in family relationships, he was in no hurry to start a serious relationship. He led a riotous lifestyle, as a result of which he again became addicted to alcohol. The singer's health, like the first time, let him down. Gregory again ended up in the hospital with an aggravated stomach ulcer.

During this difficult period, he met Anna. She danced in the Laima Vaikule ballet and was her favorite. The artist noticed a pretty girl long ago, but for the first time they managed to talk to each other only at the birthday of the famous artist.

The novel developed rapidly. The singer threw flowers and gifts at his beloved, called endlessly and confessed his love. However, Anna had already met with another for a long time. It was going to the wedding, and Gregory was clearly superfluous. Nevertheless, Leps's persistence did its job - the girl gave up. Even before marriage, Leps's future wife gave birth to his daughter Eva. A year later, they signed, and after another three years they had a second child. Anna Shaplykova was 29 years old at the time of their acquaintance, and Grigory's age was 38. In total, the couple has three children: two daughters - Eva and Nicole and a son Vano.

All Leps children are amazingly artistic. The eldest daughter from her marriage to Svetlana participated in the "Voice" competition, where her father was present on the jury. However, this did not help the girl. According to the musician, he did not specifically vote for Inga. The second daughter attends the theater of a young actor, writes music and composes poetry. The two youngest go to a specialized school. According to relatives, this time he made a good parent.

Artist business

In addition to concert activities, Leps is engaged in a business that brings him a good income. He is a co-founder of the Glass of Vodka restaurant and organizer of the Christmas at Rosa Khutor festival. In addition, since 2011, the singer has a restaurant in Kiev called Gleps, a karaoke bar in Moscow and a production center of Grigory Leps. And also the singer's fans can purchase exclusive optics with his name.

Many publications try to calculate the singer's income, but this is not easy to do. The Leps family lives in a luxurious house furnished with various antiques. In 2018, he put on an exhibition at the History Museum, consisting entirely of his treasures. Eyewitnesses claim that we are talking about tens of millions of dollars.

Since 2013, Leps has been banned from entering the United States. In this country, he is on the "black list" as a person who sponsors the mafia. The Americans claim that the singer has wide connections in the criminal environment under the nickname "Grisha", but for the artist himself this news came as a surprise ... There are other interesting facts about Leps:

• He is an active participant in the election campaign of the incumbent president and the United Russia party.
• His real name is Lepsveridze.
• In 2013, Leps held a charity concert and donated all the money to the Balashikha Cancer Center.
• The singer calls his style of performance a stage with elements of rock.
• His voice range is three octaves.
• In 2000, he lost his voice and underwent surgery to repair his ligaments.
• One of his albums consists entirely of the repertoire of Vladimir Vysotsky.
• His villa in Thailand is one of the five most expensive properties in the country.
• Throughout the history of Leps' presence on the Russian stage, many singers tried to fake his style of performance. But the peculiar growling baritone of this artist is extremely difficult to portray.
• He is the owner of a collection of three hundred sunglasses... Typically, the frames are exceptionally round.
• His height is 178 cm, and his weight has been fluctuating within 70 kg for several years. There were times when Gregory weighed 100 kg.

He has a philosophical mindset, and among his friends there are a lot of people from theological seminary. According to the musician, he himself sometimes thought about giving up everything and going to serve God.

RF, a popular singer, composer, performer and producer Grigory Leps in the Russian show business is one of the most outstanding personalities. Therefore, very often people are interested in the question, who is Grigory Leps?

His nationality also raises many questions. It is worth noting that Leps is a deeply religious person; according to rumors, there are up to 150 Orthodox icons in his house. He can be called lucky, and now let's figure out why.

Grigory Leps: nationality, biography

Viktorovich was born on July 16, 1962 in the resort town of Sochi. Father - Viktor Antonovich worked at a meat-packing plant, mother - Natella Semenevna - as a nurse. The singer's sister's name was Eteri Alavidze.

What was his nationality in childhood, as it turned out, - Georgian. As a child, he was distinguished by a restless and stormy character, like, indeed, many of his peers. True, at school he was a poor student, but he was very passionate about football and music. At the age of 14, he went to study at a music school for the class of percussion instruments.

Then there were the army years in Khabarovsk. Upon returning to Sochi, Leps begins to work as a musician either on the dance floors of the city, or in the Riviera park, or in restaurants.

At the end of the 80s, he became a soloist of the "Index-398" group. And in the early 90s he began to sing in one of the restaurants of the Zhemchuzhina hotel. The audience began to gather at Leps. Among the vacationers there were often such celebrities as Gazmanov, Rosembaum, Shufutinsky, Kalyanov, who advised him to go to Moscow. Leps never felt a passion for wealth, and even at that time he earned a lot of money every day, so he easily spent it.

Moscow, beginning ... 1992

But then he decided not to waste his talent in vain and went to conquer Moscow. At that time he was 30 years old. The capital does not really like visitors, and Leps immediately felt it. Here he turned out to be of no use to anyone, began to drink, gained weight up to 100 kg, in general, he looked, to put it mildly, very bad, and the people who promised to help him immediately disappeared somewhere. However, the singer did not live in poverty, he continued to earn money in restaurants.

After many failures, he, in collaboration with Manshin, Kobylyansky and Dolzhenkov, recorded his first debut album, God Save You. Then the song and the video "Natalie" appeared. This was the beginning of the great maestro's stellar journey.

And here in the midst of work due to a busy schedule and overuse alcohol, the musician became very ill and was taken to the hospital with a diagnosis of pancreatic necrosis and already thought that he would never see the white light. But God turned out to be merciful, he underwent an operation. The doctors strictly forbade him to drink. From that day on, he really stopped drinking. Fear of dying young overcame, he lost 35 kg. But another blow to Leps's health awaited already in 2008, when he had a bleeding ulcer, but Leps also coped with this disease.

In 1997, his new album, "Whole Life", was released, and Leps first took part in the music television festival "Song of the Year-97". In 1998, Pugacheva herself invited him to Christmas meetings.

A little later, the viewer will admire his talent at a concert dedicated to Vysotsky, where he will perform the song "Parus" in a very original way. After that, his collaboration with Alexander Solokha begins.

Big stage since 2000

And then it started and went: solo concerts, recording albums and videos. In 2000, he again undergoes surgery, only this time on the vocal cords. But everything turned out well, and again he performs and in 2001 receives the "Chanson of the Year" award.

Grigory Leps, whose songs can no longer be counted, can rightfully be called the king of the hit. What are his duets with Alegrova - "I don't believe you" (2007), with Stas Piekha - "She's not yours" (2007), Rosembaum - "Gop-stop" (2008), Meladze - "Turn around" (2010) , Timati - "London" (2012), etc., not to mention his numerous solo albums and concerts.

He is the owner of many prestigious prizes and awards, as well as honorary titles. In 2011, President D. Medvedev awarded him the title of "Honored Artist of the Russian Federation."

Grigory Leps: family

If we talk about the artist's family life, his first wife became with whom they studied at a music school. In this marriage, a daughter, Inga, was born (1984), she now lives in the UK. But after a while they divorced. For the second time, Leps married in 2000, Anna Shaplykova, a dancer from the Laima Vaikule ballet. Now they are raising three children: Eve (2002), Nicole (2007) and son Vano (2010).

Millionaire

Interestingly, according to Forbes magazine, by 2011 alone, its income amounted to 15 million US dollars. However, not only was Grigory Leps engaged in music, whose songs were played on all radio stations and television, he also turned out to be a good businessman, as he became the owner of restaurants in Moscow and Kiev, and began producing glasses under his own brand.

The United States, of course, could not forgive the singer for this, so he was accused of mafia connections and was added to the black list of those who were not allowed to enter. Leps has neither accounts nor property in America, so he took these accusations as an irony of fate.

The singer has an extraordinary timbre of voice, so to speak, growling. "Pop song with elements of rock", as Grigory Leps himself said about his style. Nationality played big role in the life of Gregory. It should be noted that the most musical and sensitive music performers on our stage are Georgians. An example is the brothers Valery and Konstantin Meladze, Tamara Gvartsiteli and, of course, Grigory Viktorovich Leps.

His biography began in the city of Sochi, was born on July 16, 1962 under the sign of Cancer. His father Viktor, a Georgian by birth, worked at a local meat-packing plant as a cutter, and his mother Natella worked as a nurse in a Sochi polyclinic.

Today, Grigory Leps remains one of the most popular performers in Russia. The biography, nationality of the artist became the object of close attention of fans.

The real name of the singer is Lepsveridze, he is Georgian by nationality. Gregory studied in an ordinary secondary school number 7 and, according to his own recollections, was another problem. Teachers who tried in every possible way to instruct the young Leps on the right path, unanimously spoke of him only as a "damned poor".

The only thing that the future singer Leps succeeded in, whose biography is full of events, is active sports and music. After graduating from secondary school, Gregory enters a music school and is fond of playing percussion instruments. After graduating from college, Leps goes to the army, then, after being demobilized, he sings in Caucasian restaurants and plays in many rock bands. In the early 80s he even managed to solo in the "Index-398" group.

Grigory Leps - biography. Moving

In restaurants in Sochi, the singer sang all night long. He removed the accumulated fatigue and stress only with alcohol, because other means simply did not help him and did not work.

Gregory began to understand and comprehend that if in the near future he cannot climb the career ladder higher, then he will simply fizzle out as an artist. Therefore, after some hesitation, the singer decides to move to Moscow, where, as he himself emphasizes, he was going to find not so much fame as himself.

Grigory Leps - biography, nationality and problems

Moscow met the singer with far from the most rosy colors. Due to his roots and origin, Gregory was of little interest to anyone. Desperate, he began to abuse alcohol and even for a while became addicted to drugs.

The appearance of the singer who dropped his hands was appropriate - Gregory's weight approached the 100 kilogram mark, and specific bruises lay under his eyes. In addition, the people who promised to help the artist in the capital simply disappeared.

But Grigory Leps, whose biography was not developing in the best way, recalls that even having problems with alcohol and appearance, he did not consider himself a poor man. There was enough money for gatherings in restaurants, albeit infrequent.

Career

The artist's creative growth and recognition occurred at the beginning of 1995. Literally a year before that, Grigory began recording his first solo album, God Save You. This album includes one of the most famous songs of the artist "Natalie". After the song gained public recognition and became recognizable, a video was shot for it. True, Grigory himself saw him for the first time in a hospital ward, when he was hospitalized with a stomach ulcer in the Botkin therapeutic department. For the same reason, he could not attend the "Song-95".

Only forward

The artist also saw positive moments in his long hospitalization. The disease saved him from 35 kilograms of gained weight. After being discharged, Grigory swore to take both alcohol and drugs.

A little later, in 1997, Grigory Leps, whose biography already included one successful album, released a second disc called "A Whole Life". And in the same year, on the preseason of the Song-97 concert, the artist performed his composition My Thoughts. One more year later, Grigory goes to Alla Pugacheva's “Christmas Meetings”, where he performs several solo songs.

Without a voice

Two years later, the artist released a collection, and a new composition entitled "Thank you, people" sounds. Then, in 1999, the shooting of clips for the songs "Rat", "So what", "Shelest" and "First Birthday" began.

At the beginning of 2000, Gregory loses his voice and goes to surgery. After rehabilitation and recovery vocal cords the artist presented to the public a new album "On the strings of the rain", at the same time clips were shot for the song "I believe, I will wait" and the unchanging hit, which still holds the top lines in all clubs and karaoke bars - "A glass of vodka on table ".

Joint creativity

At the end of 2004, a new disc by the artist was released, consisting of songs by Vladimir Vysotsky called "Sail". A video clip was shot on the album's flagship song "Parus" six months later. In March of the same year, Grigory entered the Kremlin stage with a three-hour program "Parus.Live". At this concert, the singer performed compositions by Vladimir Vysotsky and hit tracks of previous albums.

In 2005, the artist presents to the public a collection of songs entitled "Selected for 10 Years", and in 2006 begins recording a solo album "Labyrinth", simultaneously filming videos for the compositions "Blizzard", "Labyrinth" and "She". By the way, one should be noted interesting fact: Grigory took the song "Labyrinth" into his repertoire only after long persuasion by Alla Pugacheva.

The artist's next album was released in 2006 and was called "In the Center of the Earth". In October of the same year, Grigory Leps gives a grand concert in the "Olympic", the album of the same name, where he sang both new and already known compositions.

"I'm alive!"

By the end of 2007, the artist released a series of the best video clips, calling it "I am alive!" A few months later, on the threshold of 2008, Grigory gives a concert in which he will present a new album "Second", which includes his compositions from the repertoire of Vladimir Vysotsky.

A little later, the singer sang a duet with Irina Allegrova, and saw the light of a new hit - "I don't believe you." In the same year, after the duet with Stas Piekha, the clip "She's not yours" appeared.

In early November 2008, the artist was urgently hospitalized in the Dmitrovskaya hospital with a diagnosis of open stomach ulcer. But literally two weeks later, Gregory is discharged and on December 1 he gives a recital at the Palace of St. Petersburg.

Confession

Until 2011, the singer released another album called "Waterfall", and a little later published a collection of the best songs "Shore. Favorites ". And already on October 18, 2011 Grigory Leps was awarded the title of "Honored Artist of the Russian Federation".

The artist himself calls his songs a cross between pop and rock elements. Since the singer has a specific timbre and "growling" voice, many fans very often ask him why he did not stay in the chanson, but chose the stage. As the artist emphasizes, answering these questions, it is never too late to return to chanson, but now he is simply not interested in this direction.

Personal life

For such an artist as Leps, biography, family and divorce will always be the # 1 topic on the pages of yellow magazines. But mistakes are not alien to any person, and Gregory was no exception.

The first wife of the artist Svetlana Dubinskaya met the singer at the music school, where they studied together. But the marriage with her did not last long, and soon the young fled. However, the couple managed to have a daughter, Inga (born 1984). Gregory to this day pampers her and takes care of his first daughter.

The second wife of Leps (the biography of a professional artist begins under the leadership of Laima Vaikule) met the singer during the celebration of the birthday of Andrei Latkovsky (Vaikule's husband). at that time she was a dancer in the Laima ballet, and during the celebration, Gregory simply approached her and directly asked for her hand and heart.

In total, the singer has four children: the youngest Ivan (2010), Nicole (2007), Eva (2002) and the eldest daughter from his first marriage, who lives in the UK - Inga (1984).